Renato Fasano was an Italian conductor

Conducting

Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...

 and musicologist particularly associated with 18th century Italian works.

Renato Fasano studied in his native Naples, and founded the chamber orchestra "Collegium Musicum Italicum" later renamed "I Virtuosi di Roma" in 1947. This small orchestra helped popularize Italian Baroque music. He conducted widely in Europe works by such composers as Arcangelo Corelli

Arcangelo Corelli

Arcangelo Corelli was an Italian violinist and composer of Baroque music.-Biography:Corelli was born at Fusignano, in the current-day province of Ravenna, although at the time it was in the province of Ferrara. Little is known about his early life...

, Baldassarre Galuppi

Baldassarre Galuppi

Baldassare Galuppi was an Italian composer, born on the island of Burano in the Venetian Republic. He achieved international success, spending periods of his career in London and Saint Petersburg, but his main base remained Venice, where he held a succession of leading appointments.In his early...

, Alessandro Marcello

Alessandro Marcello

Alessandro Marcello was an Italian nobleman, poet, philosopher, mathematician and musician.-Biography:...

, Giovanni Paisiello

Giovanni Paisiello

Giovanni Paisiello was an Italian composer of the Classical era.-Life:Paisiello was born at Taranto and educated by the Jesuits there. He became known for his beautiful singing voice and in 1754 was sent to the Conservatorio di S. Onofrio at Naples, where he studied under Francesco Durante, and...

, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi

Giovanni Battista Pergolesi

Giovanni Battista Pergolesi was an Italian composer, violinist and organist.-Biography:Born at Iesi, Pergolesi studied music there under a local musician, Francesco Santini, before going to Naples in 1725, where he studied under Gaetano Greco and Francesco Feo among others...

, and Antonio Vivaldi

Antonio Vivaldi

Antonio Lucio Vivaldi , nicknamed because of his red hair, was an Italian Baroque composer, priest, and virtuoso violinist, born in Venice. Vivaldi is recognized as one of the greatest Baroque composers, and his influence during his lifetime was widespread over Europe...

. He also founded the "Piccolo Teatro Musicale Italiano" in 1957.

He left a notable recording of Orfeo ed Euridice

Orfeo ed Euridice

Orfeo ed Euridice is an opera composed by Christoph Willibald Gluck based on the myth of Orpheus, set to a libretto by Ranieri de' Calzabigi. It belongs to the genre of the azione teatrale, meaning an opera on a mythological subject with choruses and dancing...

, with Shirley Verrett

Shirley Verrett

Shirley Verrett was an African-American operatic mezzo-soprano who successfully transitioned into soprano roles i.e. soprano sfogato...

, Anna Moffo

Anna Moffo

Anna Moffo was an Italian-American opera singer and one of the leading lyric-coloratura sopranos of her generation...

, Judith Raskin

Judith Raskin

Judith Raskin was an American lyric soprano, renowned for her fine voice as well as her acting.Raskin was born in New York to Harry A. Raskin, a high school music teacher, and Lillian Raskin, a grade school teacher. Her father aroused her childhood interest in music, leading her to study violin...

.

Source

• Le guide de l'opéra, Roland Mancini & Jean-Jacques Rouveroux, Fayard, 1986.